I love the English….Don’t you? I mean, after all, they have been one of our strongest allies in matters of world affairs, and aside from that whole Revolutionary War thing, have been our closest friends. Maggie Thatcher was the BOMB. I so miss her. And the Queen….Don’t let her fool you. She looks like a sweet little old lady, but she is tough as nails.Brits are generally considered to be a genteel and proper sort, often standing on the same propriety that their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Good manners and social formalities, although a bit more relaxed today, are still widely practiced. And the English ladies aren’t afraid to wear great hats!

Which makes it seem even funnier to me that they would give their food names like Spotted Dick, and Cock A Leekie Soup. Oh, the thoughts running through my head right now (medical conditions, freckles in the wrong places and such). My mouth wants to say more, but my head knows better and is keeping mum.

The fact that they can call these dishes by their names, and do so with a straight face, tells me that the British are very disciplined, and are not to be trifled with. Methinks they are much tougher than their proper manners would have you think.

Or maybe it’s just me, and I have a sense of humor that people in polite society would find vulgar. I can live with that. The Two Fat Ladies would have got it.

The truth of it is that Cock A Leekie Soup—a chicken and leek soup– is delicious and simple–the austere kind of food that makes you remember being a kid. And Spotted Dick—a dense raisin studded cake that is steamed rather than baked, will warm you to your very soul.

Sooooo, we say toe-MAY-toe, they say toe-MAH-toe. Yada, yada, yada.

Although we speak English on both sides of the Atlantic, you can see that ordering food could obviously cause more than a little bit of confusion to visitors in either country.

Here are a few translations to help you navigate your way through a menu if you visit your friends on the other side.

American / English

Sausages / bangers

Chips (as in potato Chips) / Crisps

French Fries / Chips

Bacon (sliced) / Rashers

Biscuits / Scones

Crackers or Cookies / Biscuits

Endive / Chicory

Graham Crackers /Digestive Biscuits

Ham / Gammon

Frosting / Icing

Scallion /Spring Onion

Candy / Sweets

Golden Raisins / Sultanas

Whole Wheat / Wholemeal

Red or Green Sweet Peppers / Capsicum

Bubble and Squeak—most comparable to Hash in the United States. It is made of leftover roast vegetables, pan-fried in a skillet with mashed or roasted potatoes. As the mixture cooks, it makes bubble and squeak noises, hence the name. American Hash is typically leftover meat, potatoes, and other vegetables, and pan-fried.

Roast Beef—We both roast our beef in about the same way, and with or without vegetables. Simply seasoned, browned, and roasted until tender, served with brown gravy. The English have us beat here, too. They serve the most amazing Yorkshire Pudding with theirs, and few people in the United States have had the pleasure. My Granny made it, so I was one of the lucky ones, and I make it now, too. It is rather like a cross between a soufflé and a gougere, or popover. Big, light and puffy, but moist, egg-y, and dense at the same time. Holy cow—I am so making this tonight.

Toad In The Hole—the English version is link sausages (bangers) cooked atop a puffy, soufflé-like batter. Some Americans call an egg fried in a piece of pan-fried toast that has had a hole cut out of it as Toad in The Hole, but it is more frequently called Egg in The Basket.

Full English—A traditional big English breakfast. Usually some fried eggs, fried sausages, bacon, potatoes or bubble and squeak, roasted tomatoes. An American breakfast typically contains eggs, meat–bacon, sausage or ham steak– fried potatoes, and a biscuit or toast. Really big breakfasts might also include pancakes, waffles, or French toast. In both countries, however, an increased focus on health has meant an increase in the number of people eating smaller items, such as oatmeal, cold cereal, or fruit.

Pudding—In the United States, pudding refers almost solely to sweet custard. The only real exception is bread pudding, which is bread baked in a custard base. The English are very fond of puddings, and they make them in both sweet and savory versions. English puddings are more like a bread or cake, and tend to be steamed. Dense and moist, they hold up well to heavy additions like dried fruit, nuts, and in the savory versions, meats. The closest thing to an English pudding in the Unites States is fruitcake.

Pies—Although there are more savory options finally becoming popular, pie in the Unites States usually refers to a dessert. Just as with the English version, pies consist of fruit, nut or custard fillings baked in a pastry shell. But the English have us beat, hands down, when it comes to savory pies. They have steak and kidney pies, pork pies, fish pies, cottage pie and shepherd’s pie. Some are baked in a round pastry shell-like a dessert pie, and some are made into handheld pockets, such as pasty’s. Mmmmm. PIE!

Chicken Tikka Masala—This is an Indian inspired dish, made of chicken stewed in a colorful, tasty sauce of yogurt and many spices—something very common to Indian food. It was created in England, and is practically the national dish of England these days. It is becoming more and more available in the US. The only difference between here and there? In America, everyone thinks it’s authentically Indian, and the English know better.

Fish and Chips—pretty much the same on both sides of the pond. Battered and fried cod, crispy French fries, sprinkled with vinegar. Booya! Who doesn’t love that? Fish-N-Chips seems to have been the “Great Uniter” between English and American food culture.

In England, they have “chip shops” all over. Places where you can get your fried food groove on. Some of them have made their way stateside, and they are gaining popularity. Not only are they frying up fish and chips, they will pretty much batter and fry anything. Pizza slices, grilled cheese sandwiches, candy bars, cheesecake wedges, cookies, fruit, hamburgers. Oh, and let’s not forget fried macaroni and cheese.

Not to be outdone, Texas has the State Fair—Fried Food Capital of The World. The WORLD. They have introduced the world to such greats as batter- fried bacon, fried butter, and fried Coke.

I’m not sayin’ it’s right. I’m just sayin’.

So without further fanfare, I present for your dining pleasure:

Fish and Chips, Homemade Jalapeno Tartar Sauce

Fish and Chips

Chips (French Fries):

**important to start these first, as they are par-cooked before, and fried crispy just before serving.

2 large russet potatoes, peeled

Oil for frying

Salt, to taste

Peel the potatoes, and cut into long sticks ½” in diameter. Place in a large bowl, covered with cold water.

Line a large baking sheet with newspaper or paper towels, and place wire racks on top.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 325*.

Drain the potatoes very well, dabbing with a paper towel to remove excess water. Drop fries in small batches into the fryer, and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from oil, and drain well, before spreading out on rack to cool.

Raise heat in fryer to 375* and prepare the fish as directed below.

When fish has been fried, return the par-cooked potatoes to the 375* fryer, in batches, to cook until crispy and browned, about 2 minutes.

Drain well and season with salt.

Serve immediately.

Beer Battered Cod

2 lbs cod

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon cayenne (if you like it a little spicy)

2 cans cold lager

Peanut or Canola oil (for deep-frying)

Start heating oil to 375*

Slice cod at a diagonal angle into ½ thick pieces.

Mix ½ cup flour and ½ cornstarch together in a medium bowl.

Mix 1 cup flour and ½ cup cornstarch with salt and 1 bottle of beer. Whisk together until smooth. Whisk in remaining beer, a little at a time until a very thin batter is formed. It should be the consistency of buttermilk.

When the oil is hot, dredge fish pieces, a few at a time, in the flour and cornstarch mixture. Shake off the excess, and dip into the batter, quickly dropping in to the hot oil.

Cook for a few minutes until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a wire rack that has been placed over a newspaper-lined baking pan. Repeat until all fish had been fried.

Fry the potatoes for the second time after you have done the fish, and serve immediately.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

2 cups mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)

2 tablespoons capers, mashed with a fork

8 green onions, finely sliced

1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely minced (optional)

Juice of 1 lemon

teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dill pickle relish

Combine all ingredients and set aside in refrigerator. May be made a day in advance.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding

12 slices sandwich bread

4 oz salted butter, softened

1/2 cup golden raisins (sultanas)

3 cups whole milk

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Butter one side of each bread slice. In a mixing bowl, beat the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.

In a 2 quart casserole, or a 10 inch deep dish pie plate, place one layer of bread, cutting as needed to fit. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the raisins. Repeat with remaining bread and raisins. Slowly pour custard base over the bread, stopping to wait if necessary for some of the custard to be absorbed. Reserve remaining custard if it won’t all fit. Press down gently with the back of a large spoon, and let sit for 30 minutes. Add additional custard if possible.

Oh, I am sure jalapeno tartar sauce isn’t apropo for a British dish….But I hate that sweet, store bought garbage, and if I am going to make it myself, then it will almost inevitably have jalapenos in it. Whatever it is.

Yes, I left off many things…there are just so many. I also meant to mention The Young Ones, which was my favorite show when I was in High School…..It ran on the BBC, and you could catch it late nights on MTV. Sooooo funny.

You are brave, or maybe just from Texas. I have never gotten the hang of frying food. So no fish & chips at my house, unless I bake everything. I can make a mean breaded fish, though. You’d swear it was fried.

But what I really wanted to tell you, is about the London tube station called… are you ready? ‘Cause you really need to be ready… Cockfosters.

Yep.

What’s worse is that it’s one of the “destination” stops. This means that the so-proper English mechanical voice says “Cockfosters” every time the train stops at a station. When the doors close and the train starts up again, the voice tells us “this train is bound for Cockfosters.”

We used the tube a lot while we were in London, and I loved it when we had to take that line. It always made me giggle. To myself, of course. No one else on the train reacted at all.

What a fantastic blog post! And, yeah, faggots… Technically Welsh, so I guess we have to include them as British.
Speaking as a Brit (impeccable manners and all), I must profess that we call peppers peppers, and sausages are only bangers when they’re with mash… And bacon? Well, we just don’t get your bacon. It’s missing half the meat! American bacon (the long strips) we call streaky bacon, and our bacon (proper bacon) has the medallions still attached. Is that called Canadian bacon? I don’t know.
And if you’re looking for funny place names, like the lady above, how about William Wordsworth’s birthplace of Cockermouth in Cumbria?

Yes, I must admit I prefer your bacon, too. For eating out of hand anyway. Our streaky bacon is better for making bacon bits, and crunching up real small. Since it is so thin and crappy, it gets nicely light and crisp.

Although y’all corner the market on funny place names, we have a few here. Some Texas examples are: Dime Box, Woman Hollering Creek, Inconsequential. There is a river in the US called by it’s Native American Name–Chagogagogmunchogagogchabunagungamog–it mean’s “you fish on your side of the river, I’ll fish on my side of the river, and nobody fishes in the middle…Kind of like that painfully long train station y’all have…

The cultural aspect is my favorite part of this blogging gig….So much to learn…

I wholeheartedly agree! I’m going to have to explore some more American cuisine soon. The only thing I have is jambalaya. I’d like to make proper sliders, and finally find out what a perogi is. Or a reuben. What is that?

Perogies are actually Polish. They are like ravioli, but filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. Usually served with a simple butter sauce, and maybe sour cream, and onion jam. Reubens are my favorite sandwich. Shaved pastrami and swiss cheese, on toasted pumpernickel bread, with saurkraut and Russian dressing. Mmm. Now you got me hungry.

…not to get off the food theme, but a car hood is a bonnet, the trunk is the boot, the windshield is a wind screen, gas is petrol, a windbreaker is a wind cheater, a sweater is a jumper and a kitchen counter is a bench. 🙂

OMG. Spotted dick and toad in the hole brings back so many memories from my childhood. Having a father and a stepmother who both grew up in London and a Grandmother who migrated from England to Australia, I was brought up eating all these dishes.

It was the best batch I ever made. After reading some real English recipes, I tweaked my normal batter to be super thin, and it made the batter so light and crispy. And cod is so cheap, I am going to make it more often, since my kids loved it.

Hilarious!!! As I’m an Aussie we’ve automatically adopted much of the Lingo from our british counterparts, however spotted dick & cock a leekie soup aren’t ones I’d serve up in a hurry! Bubble & Squeak however is an absolute favourite and one I’ve featured (along with another British classic, The Wind in the Willows) 🙂

You captured the English jargon well, but you missed one of my favorites: “bacon butty” – a popular sandwich of British back bacon on a most bland and unappealing roll. Yet, somehow, you grow to love these little creatures — a common pre-golf snack at British courses🙂 As I write this, I can see my next blog post shaping up on the “butty” phenom…..

As an authentic British person I think your recipes are pretty good. You might like to try marmalade in your bread and butter pudding instead of the raisins.It’s a revelation. I loved the tartar sauce recipe and am happy with the jalapeño we love our chilli here in Leicester.

First of all thank you so much for stopping by and following😀 Secondly, you must be godsent because I was talking about making beer battered fish and chips with the bf today in our new deep fryer and volia you have the answer!😀 Thank you so much can’t wait to try it!😀

As a Briton who has recently lived in Indianapolis and travelled throughout the states, before moving back to England I absolutely loved this post. I experienced it the other way round with getting used to American culinary creations like barbecued blueberry glazed chicken, macaroni cheese, purple asparagus, pulled pork and many more.

I thought your post was great and if you ever want any other English dishes to try I would be happy to give you some ideas🙂

Oh and next time you make Fish and Chips try them with mushy peas (its the side dish we have them with in England) or even gravy or curry sauce (Yes really!)

Glad to hear that you not only know about Spotted Dick but enjoy eating it too.The name raises a snigger even here in England (I can’t imagine why…) but well made with fresh beef suet it’s an incredibly light pudding, best served submerged in a pool of proper custard. Makes me almost long for the return of winter…

Chica, exactly my feelings. My favorite thing about the modern culture us the ready availability of information and even ingredients about other cultures’ cuisines. You really do learn alot about a people by learning about their food history.

Thanks for the follow. I love this post, particularly as an American living in the UK. I’m not sure if biscuit/scone equates, both in terms of ingredients and use. Same applies for digestives/graham crackers. There is no equivalent for graham crackers here. However, where Americans would use graham crackers in a recipe, say with a cheesecake base, the British would substiute digestives. And, yes, mushy peas are great! Combine them with a mint or curry sauce for a slightly different flavor and serve with scallops. Yum!

As a Brit, I found this post pretty amusing, it made me chuckle, it’s always fun to see what others think of our ways! Great post, especially highlighting the great bubble and squeek! That is a boxing day must in my family! One slight problem, peppers are still peppers but hey, not a big deal🙂 Keep cooking the English way, you’re on a roll!

Great post, I laughed – genteelly of course, being British!
Chip shops are usually called chippies, and up north chip butties are popular (chip sandwich or chips in a bun) I don’t know if chippies still do it, but you used to be able to get ‘scraps’ – the little crispy bits of batter which had fallen off the fish. You can also get potato scallops, thick slices of potato dipped in batter and deep fried… talking of deep-fried, some chippies batter and deep fry anything, sausages, burgers, haggis, Mars bars… and many people (but not me) like chippy gravy, a special sort of gluey gravy on their chips… yuk…

Ah yes…..the scraps are my favorite part!!! There are some sandwich shops here in the US that make butties, but they call them by other names….

At the Texas State Fair, they are doing Fries Cool Aid this year, and they do fried coca cola, fried butter, fried cheesecake, fried snickers, fried oreos, fried bacon, fried gummy bears, and pretty much fried anything that can’t run from them…

You are cracking me up! I recently bought a can of spotted dick at the store (in the UK) to bring to a friend here in the U.S…..just because of the name. Perhaps I have maturity issues, bus come on…it is funny stuff! I enjoyed reading your blog!

Fun post. I love British food, and almost always have a can of Spotted Dick in the pantry (Heinz makes a very nice one). I do sometimes wonder how the English word “pudding” got attached to the custardy stuff we eat in the US. Nothing wrong with the custardy stuff (which is, in reality, more of a blanc-mange), but it’s not really pudding. And just to be clear, “dick” is an old British term for pudding, so spotted dick (also sometimes called spotted dog) is simply a pudding with spots — generally currants. Good stuff, though.

A couple of other foods that have different names in Britain: eggplant will be aubergine in the UK, and zucchini will be vegetable marrow.

As for cock-a-leekie, it was traditionally made from an old cock once it had outlived its usefulness — the sort of tough, old bird that you’d have to cook for a long time. But you’re right, the name does sound rather like a euphemism for some medical condition.

Hi
Thank you for following my blog, and for the glossary of American/British foods. I always wondered if our scone was your biscuit. Now I know. I like your fish and chips recipe, especially the jalapeno tartare sauce.

Yes, we British do love our big stodgy puddings. A lot of the upper class went to boarding school and the men, particularly, are really nostalgic about those institutional puddings. Treacle Tart is another one. It doesn’t in fact contain treacle at all, it’s a pastry case filled with a mix of white breadcrumbs, Lyle’s golden syrup and a hint of lemon. You can feel your teeth rotting but it’s certainly yummy.

With scones, there are two big arguments, the first being whether you say it with a long or a short ‘o’, the second being the Great West Country cream tea controversy. You see, down in the deep grassy counties of Cornwall and Devon, they make this amazing stuff called clotted cream (Rhoddas is the name-check here). And a West Country Cream Tea consists of a big scone split and smothered with clotted cream and raspberry jam. But the Cornish maintain the jam goes on first, and the Devonians argue it’s the cream. Don’t go thinking these things don’t matter. You’d be wrong!

Thanks for liking my blog and thanks for introducing me to yours; the comments are almost as interesting as your posts🙂
I don’t know if you’ve found my pasty recipe yet. It’s not the best (I’m originally from Plymouth of the border with Cornwall) but it’s mine.
Incidentally, UK sausages got the name ‘banger’ in the 1940/50s when there was rationing of meat and meat fat. Sausages then contained so much water that, if you didn’t prick them before frying, they could explode. Nasty.

I am so glad you stopped by my blog and followed as it led me back to yours, I am another Brit but with friends over the pond infact this post made me laugh out loud as recently I dared a friend in Indiana who works in shall we say a rather macho enviroment to go into work and ask his workmates how they liked their faggots and spotted dick the resulting videos were hilarious. We are working on getting him to discuss cockles and winkles with them next but he keeps protesting hehehe I can not wait to read more of your blog but as it is well past the witching hour here now I shall follow and catch up at a later time. P.S you should try the pork pies with mushy peas and mint sauce, although the hot water pastry is rather a nightmare to make but worth the effort

Excellent write-up! Should you be considering a trip to Woolacombe you should make certain you visit the Wooalcombe Fryer fish and chip shop. They actually do one of the best fish and chips in the region and you have to visit them, next take your fish and chips down to the beach and savor. Can get considerably busy there nevertheless its definitely worth the wait! All the best🙂

Love this post – we’re English, living in Nicaragua and having a great time introducing Nica friends to english food – we had fish and chips yesterday, with a Nica twist, instead of potatoes for the chips we fried plantain as tostones and of course served with Tartar Sauce. Thanks for following, I’ll look out for more from you. Tina

I think just eating real food and stniayg away from anything processed is the best start to eating healthy. It’s pretty easy to do. I’ve done it and already lost 5 pounds without even trying. Processed food has a lot of corn syrup and other additives, that I am convinced put on the weight. I call them hidden ingredients.

I always say I’m going to try out a recipe and never get around to it. Well, I’m getting around to it tonight. Mrs. G wants fish and chips. Actually I suggested it, but she doesn’t know how to make it. Then I remembered your post. Going straight to the store after work to procure the cod. Hope it turns out as well for me as it did for you.

Love the sound of the tartar sauce. As for names of vegetables it gets even more confusing as N. Ireland and Scotland usually have differing names, too. Scallions is N. Irish, for example. What you call rutabaga caught me out as well as it’s called turnip in both N. Ireland and Scotland (neeps, too) but called swede in most parts of England. Language is just great.

Thanks for the follow! I totally had to try Spotted Dick the lat time I was in England. I took a picture of it and sent it to my husband with the note that I was eating dick and that it was warm and gooey. Fortunately, he has a sense of humor! Thanks for the follow (and putting up with my lewd humor in ths comment).

Chips are definitely NOT french fries… They are large pieces of potato fried in oil and eaten with salt and vinegar and usually tomato sauce or brown sauce. Tartar sauce is posh and would not usually be eaten with fish and chips from the chippy. You’d have tartar sauce with a posh sit down meal. Fish and Chips are meant to be greasy and the salt and vinegar cuts through the grease and we would usually eat them in the paper bag with our fingers or a wooden fork (two pronged). They are cheap and cheerful meal of the working class. In fact we have a saying “Cheap as Chips”.

You need to understand that class and region is a really big thing in Britain. A working class man from the south of England would be very different from a working class man from Scotland. In fact my brother-in-law (from Northern Ireland) and I (from Southern England) find it very difficult to understand each others’ accent and culture. Regionally we would all be very different. Lower middle class people would be much more similar across the country and upper middle class people would be almost the same in lifestyle, attitudes and language. David Beckham is a good example of southern working class, Micheal Cain or John Cleese a good example of middle class and of course the royal family of upper class.

Brits are the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh (Cornish if don’t want to offend anyone). Never!!! (my wife is Northern Irishs) call a Scot, Welsh Man, Irish Man, ‘English’, they will not be very upset! We are all from Great Britain or the United Kingdom. Of course the Union Jack is a amalgamation of the flags of all four nations.

Sultanas are called this way because they came from the Ottoman Empire and from/like the ‘Sultana’ (Sultans wife). We also have currants which come from red grapes and they are very small and hard. Raisins and currants are ‘usually’ for cooking and Sultanas for snacking.

Gosh, so much indeed! I appreciate, and I am sure my readers do as well, your detailed discussion into your culture….That’s the best part about blogging, from my perspective.

I will say, though, that although you might not consider your chips to be french fries, if you showed them to anyone in the US and asked them what they are, they would tell you “french fries”. I think what folks in other country’s see of American french fries comes mostly from McDonald’s and other such garbage. Really, french fries over here run a whole gammit of things. From the thin, nasty little buggers like I just mentioned, to potatoes that are simply quartered and fried–and then every size in between.

And although I know what would typically be served with your fish and chips, I still have to stay true to my Texas roots when I cook. I have to make sure my family will eat it–and they would look at me funny if I served brown gravy or curry and such with fish and chips…For us, growing up on the Texas coast meant tartar sauce. And in Texas it also means jalapenos. We do salt the heck out of it, and still apply liberal vinegar or lemon juice too. We eat the tartar sauce on fried shrimp, oysters, hushpuppies, and pretty much anything that doesn’t manage to swim away from us.

And oh, Lord, do I know not to call an Irishman, a Scot, or a Welshman English….I am of Irish Catholic persuasion, and I would have heard all about that from my Papa.

We actually do have sultanas and currants as well….But the term raisins is used both to describe the larger red and black raisins, and the whole class of fruit in general. We say sultanas when we mean the plump juicey gold ones, and currants when we mean the tiny red ones.

I actually consider Britain in the same way I consider North America. We speak a common language, but with very different dialects, and very different cultures. Just the vast size of the US lends itself to this. The dialects, accents, and food cultures between the South, the Midwest, the desert Southwest, The East Coast, and the West Coast are vastly different. The pace of life, the attitudes, the social morays—you would think we were different planets sometimes.

I’m glad I found your blog. Cooking with humor. I like that, although I’m not much of a cook. I am, however, a fan of British things, especially the Royal Family, and especially dear Kate and Will (I’m from Canada). So the title of this particular post was guaranteed to draw me to it.

Hi Texana
Thanks for following me. I am going to steal up recipes/ I love fish and chips but have never tried to make it. I just might now.
Perogies can also be made with meat, i’ve done that and it’s yummy.

Christine: Great blog! I look forward to taking more time poking around and looking at the recipes more closely. Loved this one about English vs. American. My mom was raised in Canada so I’m familiar with a lot of what you wrote about. Gets really confusing because there’s French thrown in with the English names for things up there.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and deciding to follow it. Glad to have you along. I hope you’ll consider joining my “Writing Exercise Contest.”
Tori McRae

Yes, I love your blog. This blogging hobby of mine has taught me that I love writing as much as cooking, and some days even more. I am having a blast meeting all sorts of people, from all over the world. Great exchange of ideas, culture, etc…So fun.

Thank you for sharing these tidbits and making me giggle this morning
FYI -The Minnesota State Fair also provides a wealth of fried foods and puts them on a stick – fried Snickers bars, bacon dipped in chocolate, battered and fried, TaterTot casserole, mac and cheese… and we’re known for fried cheese curds in this part of the country😉

As the daughter of an English fish and chip shop owner (now retired, much to my family’s belly’s despair – it’s just not the same if not made by dad), I’d recommend trying a one dip-approach to chips. I think most chippies don’t have time to pre-cook, but that could just be my dad as he was always busy! Personally, I dislike curry sauce and mushy peas after being forced to make 100’s of portions during school holiday time to earn extra pocket money.

There are definitely regional variations too, with the traditional fish of choice being haddock, but it’s more likely to be cod when eaten in the south of England. Since I can’t recommend my dad’s any more, I’d definitely recommend the Woolacombe chippie, and they are divine with a cup of tea. Mmmmmm!

I’m from England, but I live in Spain at the moment. I must say that I don’t miss much English food, but my husband really misses his full English breakfast. You can find an English breakfast in tourist places on the coast, but they are never quite the same.

But, as to us accepting those rude-sounding words and phrases in our culture, truth be told, I think that many of us giggle silently about them too🙂
Margaret Thatcher…. be careful when you tell a Brit that you miss MT. You may not get the reaction you expect🙂

from a Brit I say well done! Great post, although we also call sausages well sausages, only in greasy cafes or in slang are they bangers e.g. bangers and mash. And why Bangers – cosh when you fry them they pop with the fat trying to escape!! I love Margret T, but then I was an 80s child and from Essex so she kinda raised us.

What a dreamy post! I could eat fish and chips every day, especially if I had a pint of the local brew to wash it down with. (By far the best thing about my visit to London!) I love bread pudding, though I’m not such a big fan of the savory kinds of puddings favored by the Brits. And the Two Fat Ladies — my most favoritest television cooking personalities of all time (after Julia, of course).

Did you know Margaret Thatcher was known as Thatcher the Milk Snatcher when she cut free milk for school kids? A lot of British peeps DO NOT have fond memories of her! She’s the anti-bomb…. However….. aside from that teensy tiny rant…. this made for just lovely reading! And as a Londoner who loves her mashed up mix up neighborhood… there is nothing better than a bit of Encona Hot Pepper sauce dollopped on top of Friday night’s fish and chips! xx

So Thatcher cut some social welfare? Go Margaret!!!! NOTHING IS FREE IN THIS WORLD. SOMEONE HAS TO WORK TO GET ‘IT’ AND THEY SHOULD BE THE ONES TOOO GET ‘IT’. NOT HAVE ‘IT’ TAKEN AWAY AND GIVEN TO SOMEONE ELSE WHO WON’T WORK! PERIOD. THE END. NO ARGUMENT WELCOME, BECAUSE THERE IS NO ARGUMENT.

Loved your blog about about British Food. Fun and very respectful. Mags was a true and fearless anti BS leader. I miss her and I miss Bush. Love the Queen and quite missing the UK. I live in Facist California where they just banned Foie Gras today.

It’s really funny reading this as a English girl! Some of the comparisons are a little wrong (sorry being one of those people) but I love reading about your enthusiasm for our food! Feel like I should be doing something very ‘British’ while writing this. Maybe I should eat some crumpets!

Bubbles and squeek has always been a long time favorite in or house, especially when the kids were growing up. It was one of the things we could make a lot of for cheap and fill all the tummies. Two parents and 7 kids, we are all big fans of this english food.

Hi great post. Just been reading ALL of the comments too. Those that point out some minor errors are generally correct. I think this is because you reference English & British in the same comment. Most of the errors I think are due to your Irish ancestory and what you may or may not have picked up from Scots, Welsh and perhaps Aussies. English fish & chips is not usually battered with beer batter at the local fish & chip shops but almost always is in the restaurants. Seems to be a “posh” version of batter that the celeb chefs have foisted onto the public.

We English don’t deep fry anything as you suggest. That started really with the Scots and deep fried Mars bars. It has spread to some parts of England & Wales too.

Ham/Gammon is exactly the same in CT/NY as it is in England. Bacon in NY to get it like the English type you need Irish rashers. Strangely these bear no resemblance to bacon rashers I’ve bought in Ireland.

I found living in the USA that most Americans tend to think all British people are Irish and that all things English are Irish. I’ve even had people spend 10 minutes trying to convince me I’m Irish in NY. Nope. Another good one is that people with a broad cockney style accent from the SE of England are very often taken to be Australian by Americans.

We speak English. You speak American. Its all good and I love the differences in both the language and the food.

Hi Christine. Great seeing your take on things (given that I spend so much time blogging my love of America’s eccentricities!). Would be interested to see your take on treacle pudding or Jam Roly Poly!!! All the best for 2013. Kev

Hmmm. I could do that! The Roly Poly is called a jelly roll over here. I think the closest thing we have to Treacle Pudding is either a sticky toffee pudding, or hasty pudding….Maybe some comparative recipes for them would be appropriate!

Hi Christine! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I love this post and all of the comments are fabulous. As a northerner, I particularly appreciate the discussion of ‘scraps’ with fish & chips. I spent a few years living in Oxford and then Cambridge (i.e. the ‘South’) and no one knew what they were. You can imagine the look I got when I asked for “Twice w’ scraps, please love”. Lol. No curry sauce for me though – I am a mushy pea purist! Looking forward to reading more🙂 TYT.

hehe!
great post….i grew up in england, studied there and also worked for a while there.
you are right about english formalities etc….even though the language on both sides of the atlantic is the same, it is same and different!
words like geezer (an old man), chav ( a recent phenomenon in england, denoting uneducated, unemployed people), nutcase (mad, crazy), nitwit (silly) etc are all words that i never hear in canada.
but things have changed unfortunately in england, like elsewhere….people are not the same as when i was a child there….moral attitudes have virtually gone…and everybody seems to be so angry….the slightest honk on your car horn drives most of them crazy, willing to beat you up for no reason!
in the end, that why i moved out…those days of the village bobby (policeman) and friendly neighbours has gone….

Bless you for this post. I’m a Brit and my hubby’s a yank and our marriage is probably based on a mutually misunderstanding at the best of times. He always sniggers when we’re on the London Underground train to Cock Fosters and I get a kick out of telling British mates that my husband used to live with a guy called Randy Gerkin (who I now call The Horny Pickle),

Some of the stuff my husband refuses to eat over here is Black Pudding, which is the blood sausage we have as part of a full English fry-up, and Peas Pudding which is a North Eastern dish which my Geordie grandma brought down with her. It seems to be mushy peas molded into a pudding and cooked until they are dry and yellow. I think it’s vile tasting but others are in raptures over it.

He loves a good back-bacon sarnie (sandwich) with Daddies sauce for breakfast, and spotted dick and toad in the hole for dinner though.

You Brits have cornered the market on fun food names! But your place names are way more exciting too…Wells Next The Sea, Barrow In Furness……we have Cleaveland. Chicago. Snore…..boring.
I’m not sure about that mushy pea thing though….and I LOVE peas.

Well the weirdest named place I’ve visited in the UK is Pity Me in County Durham and my great uncle was once mayor of Chipping Camden near the unfortunately named Chipping Sodbury, but you have some pretty good ones like Tombstone or Hell in Michigan which I wrote about a couple of years ago:http://www.exploration-online.co.uk/article.php?id=450

Can I just point out that zucchini are not marrows as one poster mentioned. We call them courgettes (cause France owned us in the Middle Ages) and marrows are like mammoth zucchinis – so less flavour, more watery. Traditionally we stuff them with minced beef, onions and gravy. But finding that a little bland, I’ve started to make curried beef or chilli con carne as the stuffing. Gives it a well-needed kick! Perfect for early Autumn (Fall).🙂